B&H Podcast: Authentic Photographic Documentation vs AI Generated Images
Release Date: 09/26/2024
The Great Acceleration: Human-Altered Industrial Landscapes, with Edward Burtynsky
B&H Photography Podcast
Industrial expansion has left an indelible mark on our natural world, fundamentally altering landscapes and ecosystems for the sake of material progress and modern convenience. This transformation has created an environmental challenge of unprecedented scale. In today’s show, we’ll connect the dots between the raw materials that make up our planet and the industrial forces visually altering our contemporary landscape in a chat with a photographer who’s documented these profound global changes firsthand for the past 50 years. Applying visual principals rooted in abstract expressionist...
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A Master Class in Photo Book Publishing, with Mary Virginia Swanson & Rick Smolan
B&H Photography Podcast
Every photographer dreams of publishing a book of their photographs. But what exactly does that entail? In today’s show, we’re going to peek behind the scenes of this complex and daunting process in a chat with two complementary figures who’ve spent their respective careers helping to redefine what a photo book can be. Starting with three basic questions—Why a book? Why now? And what is the role of a book in your career at this time?—our discussion expands to cover a broad range of concerns. From distinguishing between the many different publishing models available today, to insights...
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The Beauty & Impact of Polar Photography, with Acacia Johnson & Jonas Paurell
B&H Photography Podcast
In a world of perpetual motion, there exists a realm of profound stillness—where light doesn’t simply illuminate, it transforms. Far from home amid Earth’s frozen tundras, time itself seems suspended in crystalline air. In today’s podcast, we’ll visit these places where time hangs in the balance, and we’ll explore the intrepid mix of endurance, patience, and vision it takes to make pictures there. Joining us for this conversation are polar photography specialists Acacia Johnson and Jonas Paurell. From making distinctions between Arctic and Antarctic regions, to learning about the...
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The Alchemy of Urban Street Portraits, with Jamel Shabazz
B&H Photography Podcast
When it comes to his iconic street portraits, Jamel Shabazz is all about building relationships and spreading joy. Yet, beyond the rich tapestry created with both the neighbors and strangers, friends and rivals he’s encountered across New York’s five boroughs, Jamel’s most meaningful role might be that of a street teacher, touching the lives of the people in front of his lens and inviting them to mark their place in history. In today’s podcast, we learn from the master while tracing his career path, from early observational learning at the side of his father—a professional...
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Reshape Your Skills Throughout Your Photo Career, with Aaron Anderson & Chris Orwig
B&H Photography Podcast
At first glance, photographers Chris Orwig and Aaron Anderson seem an unlikely pairing—with the natural light and high key palette of Chris’s portraits forming a sharp contrast to the cinematic lighting and film noir aura featured in Aaron’s work. Yet, their heartfelt discussion about creative reinvention in today’s podcast celebrates the notion that opposites attract. Adding to our core topic of reshaping skills at every stage of your career, we’ll also delve into keeping abreast of creative trends and remaining relevant as a creator in an increasingly competitive commercial...
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High-Octane Motor Sports Photography, with Camden Thrasher & Jamey Price
B&H Photography Podcast
Nothing beats the thundering energy and human drama that unfolds across the surface of an automotive racetrack. Photographers who specialize in this adrenaline-fueled niche are best served by nerves of steel and the high endurance to lug multiple cameras and the long lenses needed to freeze the action. In today’s show, we plunge headfirst into what it takes to cover the many facets of auto racing with two of the finest professionals in the field, photographers Camden Thrasher and Jamey Price. From stories of unexpected hurdles to access when scouting an unfamiliar course to the mix of...
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Photo Industry Tips from High-End Assistants, with Mike Foley & Alex Savidis
B&H Photography Podcast
As any established photographer will tell you, forging a career can be a long and arduous journey, with no instruction manual to guide you through the process. The lofty world of top-notch pros is often shrouded in mystery and full of things they don’t teach in photo school. In today’s show, we get to peek behind the scenes of this complex, and often chaotic environment in a chat with two colleagues who’ve found a way to balance their freelance careers as independent creators with lucrative work assisting in a high-profile photo studio. Listen in, to learn how a casual job application...
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Podcast: Creative Innovation & Visual Voodoo, with Chase Jarvis
B&H Photography Podcast
Above Photograph © Chase Jarvis We’ve all heard the saying “The best camera is the one that’s with you.” But do you know how this catch phrase ended up as a mantra of the mobile economy? In today’s show, we speak with Chase Jarvis, the man behind Best Camera—the wildly successful photo sharing app that predated Instagram—to get an inside look at his wild ride. A born entrepreneur and self-made photographer with a hunger that always worked against the grain, Chase’s meteoric rise in action sports/lifestyle photography dovetailed with the dawn of the sharing economy,...
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AI-Powered Wedding Photography Workflows, with Sam Hurd & Justin Benson
B&H Photography Podcast
Photographers often react instinctively against artificial intelligence, typically focusing on controversial generative AI. Meanwhile, a different branch of AI technology—machine learning systems—has been making remarkable progress helping photographers manage overwhelming image workflows under tight deadlines. In today's show, we explore this trending topic in a discussion with Justin Benson and Sam Hurd, both accomplished wedding photographers and tech entrepreneurs. Justin begins by clarifying the distinction between machine learning and generative AI before taking us...
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Picturing the World from Immersive to Eternal, with Claudio Edinger
B&H Photography Podcast
Above Photograph © Claudio Edinger When it comes to photography, Claudio Edinger has a Midas touch. Equally celebrated for his immersive photo series, the intimacy of his portraits, and his aerial views that conjure a sense of the eternal through selective focus, his compulsion for research drives adjustments to his photographic strategy from one project to the next. In today’s show, we unpack the many facets of Claudio’s storied career, from his arrival in New York and early documentation of Brooklyn’s Hasidic community in the late 1970s to the environmental portraits he made inside...
info_outlineIn today’s podcast, we chat with Boris Eldagsen, visual artist and AI pioneer, and Miles Astray, documentary photographer, on a plethora of issues surrounding AI-generated content. Boris and Miles share a ton of insight into the nature of AI-generated images, from the implications of it becoming more prevalent, the possibility and dangers of the spread of misinformation all the way to the need to rethink how we engage with social media.
These are just a few of the points raised in our discussion with them. If you haven’t already listened, This episode is part of a wider series tracing the effects of AI on today’s creative community.
Guests: Boris Eldagsen & Miles Astray
Top shot: TOP_SHOT_Eldagsen_Astray_bhpodcast
Photo caption: AI Generated Image “The Electrician” vs Authentic Photograph “Flamingone”
Photo credit: Collaged diptych: © Boris Eldagsen / © Miles Astray
Episode Timeline:
3:40: Boris shares his thoughts on the difference in reception between his and Miles’ respective contest entries.
6:34: Discussing the blurry boundaries between editing photographs and generated images.
15:18: Miles shares some of his motivations behind his photo, “F L A M I N G O N E”.
20:12: As AI images become more prevalent what happens when we’re flooded with content with questionable basis in reality.
27:24: The pitfalls of generated images and living in a “post-truth” era.
29:37: Episode Break
30:52: The surprising, sometimes idiosyncratic nature of what AI models generate when entering prompts.
42:33: What the lack of guardrails and censorship with AI-generated content means for creativity.
47:55: Discussing the possible dangers of AI-content to the documentary-photography process.
53:07: The opposing nature of social media as a news source and a business.
59:34: The prevalence of fact checking on social media sites.
1:06:53: On the lack of a perfect solution to the problem with manipulated images and the spread of disinformation.
Guest Bios:
Boris Eldagsen is an acclaimed media artist, photographer, and AI pioneer based in Berlin. His work in photomedia explores the limits of what can be depicted. Using a combination of street photography, staged works, and, most recently, both still and video AI image-making tools, he deals intensively with the subconscious, which inspires him to create new worlds of images.
Boris has taught creativity, concept development, and photographic art in both Germany and Australia since 2004. Additionally, he is a member of Deutsche Fotografische Akademie, and is responsible for their online activities.
Miles Astray is a multidisciplinary artist who combines writing and photography into art activism. He was inspired by a slow and immersive journey around the world that started in 2012, when he set out to work with grassroots nonprofits for a year.
Little did he know this would be the first step of a new chapter of a reinvented life, living and working with local communities in Latin America, Asia and Africa. When he returned home for the first time in 2018, he found home was no longer a place to settle, it was just another place to stop along the path of a greater journey. And, thus he’s still out there, not so much to find answers, but to keep asking questions.
Stay Connected:
Boris Eldagsen Web site: https://www.eldagsen.com/
Boris Eldagsen Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boriseldagsen
Boris Eldagsen Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boriseldagsen
Boris Eldagsen YouTube: www.youtube.com/@boriseldagsen
Boris Eldagsen Prompt Whispering Workshops: https://www.promptwhispering.ai/workshops/
Miles Astray Web site: https://www.milesastray.com/
Miles Astray Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/milesastray/
Miles Astray Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MilesAstray/
Miles Astray Twitter: https://twitter.com/milesastray
Boris Eldagsen Podcast Episode: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/fake-memories-promptography-and-generative-ai-with-boris-eldagsen
Stephen Shankland Podcast Episode: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/photography-in-the-age-of-ai-with-stephen-shankland
Fred Ritchin Podcast Episode: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/photography-in-the-age-of-synthetic-imaging-with-fred-ritchin